2002–03 Divizia A

The 2002–03 Divizia A was the eighty-fifth season of Divizia A, the top-level football league of Romania. Season began in August 2002 and ended in May 2003. Rapid București became champions on 24 May 2003.

Divizia A
Season2002–03
ChampionsRapid București[1]
RelegatedSportul Studențesc
UTA Arad
Champions LeagueRapid București
UEFA CupSteaua București
Dinamo București
Intertoto CupGloria Bistrița
Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț
Matches played240
Goals scored627 (2.61 per match)
Top goalscorerClaudiu Răducanu (21)
Biggest home winCeahlăul 6–0 UTA
UTA 6–0 Bistrița
Biggest away winFarul 0–5 Național
Highest scoringSportul 5–6 Dinamo
Longest winning runRapid (6)
Longest unbeaten runFC U, Steaua (9)
Longest losing runPolitehnica (9)

Team changes

Relegated

The teams that were relegated to Divizia B at the end of the previous season:

The teams that were promoted from Divizia B at the start of the season:

Venues
Poli AEK Timișoara Steaua București Universitatea Craiova Rapid București
Dan Păltinișanu Steaua Ion Oblemenco Giulești-Valentin Stănescu
Capacity: 32,972 Capacity: 28,365 Capacity: 25,252 Capacity: 19,100
FCM Bacău Farul Constanța Dinamo București Argeș Pitești
Dumitru Sechelariu Gheorghe Hagi Dinamo Nicolae Dobrin
Capacity: 17,500 Capacity: 15,520 Capacity: 15,032 Capacity: 15,000
Sportul Studențesc
Location of Bucharest teams.
 Național București
Regie Cotroceni
Capacity: 15,000 Capacity: 14,542
Oțelul Galați Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț
Oțelul Ceahlăul
Capacity: 13,500 Capacity: 12,500
FC Brașov UTA Arad Gloria Bistrița Astra Ploiești
Tineretului UTA Gloria Astra
Capacity: 10,000 Capacity: 10,000 Capacity: 7,800 Capacity: 7,000

Personnel and kits
Team Head coach Captain Kit manufacturer Shirt Sponsor
Argeș Pitești Romania Ion Moldovan Romania Cristian Bălașa Italy Erreà Pic
Astra Ploiești Romania Florin Marin Romania Daniel Petroesc Italy Lotto Petrom, InterAgro
Brașov Romania Marius Lăcătuș Romania Cosmin Bodea Spain Joma Prescon
Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț Romania Viorel Hizo Romania Radu Lefter Romania Ancada Rifil, Romalfa
Dinamo București Romania Ioan Andone Romania Giani Kiriță Italy Lotto Cosmorom
Farul Constanța Romania Marin Ion Romania Cristian Șchiopu Italy Erreà Argus
Universitatea Craiova Romania Sorin Cârțu Romania Pavel Badea Italy Erreà SIF Oltenia
FCM Bacău Romania Ilie Dumitrescu Romania Florin Prunea Italy Legea Sonoma
Gloria Bistrița Romania Remus Vlad Romania Vasile Popa England Umbro Darimex
Național București Italy Walter Zenga Romania Petre Marin Italy Lotto Astra Asigurări, LG Corporation
Oțelul Galați Romania Costel Orac Romania Cătălin Tofan Italy Lotto Ispat Sidex
Poli AEK Timișoara Romania Gheorghe Mulțescu Romania Florin Constantinovici Italy Erreà ARGIROM
Rapid București Romania Mircea Rednic Romania Adrian Iencsi Italy Erreà LaDorna
Sportul Studențesc Romania Cezar Zamfir Romania Laurențiu Diniță Italy Lotto Omniasig
Steaua București Romania Victor Pițurcă Romania Mirel Rădoi United States Nike —
UTA Arad Romania Constantin Pană Romania Marius Popescu Italy Erreà —

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Rapid București (C) 30 20 3 7 59 25 +34 63 Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round
2 Steaua București 30 16 8 6 42 27 +15 56 Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round
3 Gloria Bistrița 30 13 6 11 32 33 −1 45[lower-alpha 1] Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round
4 Brașov 30 13 6 11 37 33 +4 45[lower-alpha 1]
5 Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț 30 12 8 10 43 33 +10 44[lower-alpha 2] Qualification to Intertoto Cup first round
6 Dinamo București 30 13 5 12 49 46 +3 44[lower-alpha 2] Qualification to UEFA Cup qualifying round
7 Universitatea Craiova 30 12 8 10 36 37 −1 44[lower-alpha 2]
8 Național București 30 12 7 11 41 36 +5 43
9 Astra Ploiești 30 13 3 14 42 42 0 42
10 Farul Constanța 30 12 4 14 35 47 −12 40
11 Argeș Pitești 30 11 5 14 37 41 −4 38[lower-alpha 3]
12 Bacău 30 10 8 12 31 31 0 38[lower-alpha 3]
13 Oțelul Galați 30 9 9 12 25 37 −12 36 Qualification to relegation play-offs
14 Politehnica AEK Timișoara 30 11 2 17 37 52 −15 35
15 Sportul Studențesc București (R) 30 9 4 17 44 55 −11 31 Relegation to Divizia B
16 UTA Arad (R) 30 8 6 16 37 52 −15 30
Source: LT (in Romanian)
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) head-to-head goals scored; 5) goal difference; 6) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. GLO 3-1 BRA; BRA 0-1 GLO
  2. CH 3-2 D; D 5-0 CH; CR 3-1 D; D 1-0 CR; CR 0-0 CH; CH 3-0 CR
  3. ARG 3-1 BAC; BAC 2-3 ARG

Positions by round
Team ╲ Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930
Argeș Pitești14121514151413121212101191114141213121213111211111110121011
Astra Ploiești13810131415161614161516151513101197981077987879
Bacău151413121113151516151413111299766810121010101012111212
Brașov71061012121097565567567865533433334
Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț1679991097101012151213101210811119666699985
Universitatea Craiova2311466111113111210911111315151311788765797
Dinamo București167867886324222234557999876656
Farul Constanța813111179111089910141015151411107681112121211101110
Gloria Bistrița958485422256785655444455558543
Oțelul Galați395653349887878881091012131314131313131313
Național București523532233432334422233344344468
Rapid București614211111111111111111111111111
Sportul Studențesc1115127101112131311139131412131514131414141513151515151515
Steaua București10111415138754678643343322222222222
Politehnica AEK Timișoara4423245657434567912141515151415141414141414
UTA Arad121616161616141415141614161616161616161616161616161616161616
Source: LT (in Romanian)

Results
Home \ Away ARG AST BAC BRA CEA FCU DIN FAR GBI OȚE NAT RAP SPO STE TIM UTA
Argeș Pitești — 1–0 3–1 0–0 2–1 2–2 2–0 2–1 2–0 2–2 2–0 0–2 0–2 2–3 5–1 1–0
Astra Ploiești 2–1 — 2–0 1–0 2–2 2–0 4–2 2–1 2–0 2–0 3–2 0–2 3–2 0–1 2–1 1–1
Bacău 2–3 2–0 — 4–0 0–0 2–3 3–1 1–2 0–0 0–1 2–2 2–1 1–0 0–1 1–0 1–0
Brașov 2–0 1–1 0–1 — 1–0 3–1 2–2 2–0 0–1 3–2 0–1 2–0 3–2 0–0 2–0 2–1
Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț 0–1 2–1 0–0 2–1 — 3–0 3–2 0–0 3–0 4–0 3–1 1–2 2–2 1–0 3–2 6–0
Universitatea Craiova 0–0 3–1 0–0 2–1 0–0 — 3–1 0–1 2–0 2–0 0–2 1–3 2–0 3–1 1–0 1–1
Dinamo București 3–0 0–3 1–1 1–0 5–0 1–0 — 2–0 0–2 1–0 1–1 0–2 3–1 2–4 2–1 5–0
Farul Constanța 2–1 1–4 0–3 0–1 4–2 2–2 0–1 — 0–0 0–1 0–5 2–1 1–0 2–1 3–1 1–0
Gloria Bistrița 1–0 2–0 0–0 3–1 1–0 4–0 1–0 1–3 — 1–0 3–0 0–3 3–0 0–0 2–0 4–1
Oțelul Galați 2–0 2–1 1–0 0–2 0–0 0–1 2–0 2–2 1–0 — 2–1 0–0 0–0 1–1 2–2 2–1
Național București 3–1 1–0 0–0 0–2 1–3 1–2 0–2 4–1 0–0 0–0 — 1–1 5–1 0–0 1–0 2–1
Rapid București 1–0 4–1 2–0 1–1 1–0 0–2 3–1 5–1 3–1 5–2 2–0 — 0–1 1–2 3–0 3–0
Sportul Studențesc 4–2 3–0 0–3 1–2 0–1 3–1 5–6 0–3 1–1 2–0 2–1 1–2 — 1–2 3–1 0–0
Steaua București 1–0 1–0 3–0 1–1 0–0 0–0 1–1 1–0 3–0 1–0 0–2 2–1 4–3 — 0–1 5–2
Politehnica AEK Timișoara 1–0 2–1 2–0 2–1 2–0 2–1 2–3 2–1 2–1 0–0 1–2 1–3 3–2 1–3 — 3–4
UTA Arad 2–2 2–1 3–1 3–1 2–1 1–1 0–0 0–1 6–0 3–0 1–2 0–2 0–2 2–0 0–1 —
Source: LT (in Romanian)
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion / relegation play-off

The teams placed on the 13th and 14th place in the Divizia A faced the 2nd placed teams from both groups of the Divizia B. Politehnica AEK Timișoara and FC Oradea won the relegation play-offs.[2]

Even though Oțelul Galați lost the relegation play-off against FC Oradea, they kept their place in the Divizia A because Petrolul Ploiești, the club that won the Divizia B, Seria I, sold its promotion place to Oțelul Galați and merged with Astra Ploiești, the other team from the city of Ploiești, which finished on the 9th position this season.[3]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Politehnica AEK Timișoara 8–4 Gloria Buzău 5–3 3–1
Oțelul Galați 3–4 Oradea 2–1 1–3
14 June 2003 Leg 1 Politehnica AEK Timișoara 5–3 Gloria Buzău Stadionul Dan Păltinișanu
Zanc 28'
Silvășan 54'
Bătrânu 59'
Prodan 71'
Oprea 90+3'		 Gheorghe 13'
Petre 26'
Apostol 68'
14 June 2003 Leg 1 Oțelul Galați 2–1 Oradea Stadionul Oțelul
Cornea 28'
Guriță 67'		 Vrăjitoarea 45+1'(p)
18 June 2003 Leg 2 Gloria Buzău 1–3 Politehnica AEK Timișoara Stadionul Municipal
Gheorghe 90+3' Constantinovici 13'
Buia 48'
Zanc 69'
18 June 2003 Leg 2 Oradea 3–1 Oțelul Galați Stadionul Iuliu Bodola
Vrăjitoarea 71', 81', 90+1' Tănase 28'

Attendances
Pos Team Total High Low Average Change
1 Politehnica Timișoara 324,000 40,000 6,000 21,600 n/a1
2 Universitatea Craiova 280,000 40,000 4,000 18,666 n/a†
3 Rapid București 157,000 20,000 3,000 10,466 n/a†
4 Steaua București 142,250 24,000 250 9,483 n/a†
5 UTA Arad 124,000 12,000 4,000 8,266 n/a1
6 FCM Bacău 120,000 18,000 2,000 8,000 n/a†
7 Oțelul Galați 94,000 12,000 3,000 6,266 n/a†
8 Dinamo București 87,000 15,000 2,000 5,800 n/a†
9 Farul Constanța 74,000 8,000 2,000 4,933 n/a†
10 FC Brașov 71,500 12,000 1,000 4,766 n/a†
11 Argeș Pitești 64,000 12,000 300 4,266 n/a†
12 Național București 60,100 12,000 900 4,006 n/a2
13 Ceahlăul Piatra Neamț 52,750 10,000 250 3,516 n/a†
14 Gloria Bistrița 48,100 12,000 300 3,206 n/a†
15 Astra Ploiești 44,000 10,000 500 2,933 n/a†
16 Sportul Studențesc București 35,150 8,000 150 2,510 n/a†
League total 1,777,850 40,000 150 7,438 n/a†

Updated to games played on 2 June 2019
Source: League matches: Divizia A 2002/2003
Notes:
1: Played last season in Divizia B.
2: Național București played 1 match out of their stadium.

Top goalscorers
Position[4] Player Club Goals
1 Claudiu Răducanu Steaua București 21
2 Ionel Dănciulescu Dinamo București 16
3 Laurențiu Diniță Sportul Studențesc 15
4 Cosmin Bărcăuan Dinamo București 13
5 Sergiu Radu Național București 12

Champion squad
Rapid București[5]

Goalkeepers: Emilian Dolha (22 / 0); Ionuț Curcă (4 / 0); Boban Savić Serbia (3 / 0); Răzvan Lucescu (1 / 0).
Defenders: Cornel Buta (3 / 0); Nicolae Constantin (3 / 0); Adrian Iencsi (27 / 4); Vasile Maftei (29 / 3); Camille Muzinga Democratic Republic of the Congo (2 / 0); Dănuț Perjă (20 / 3); Răzvan Raț (28 / 2); Ion Voicu (19 / 1).
Midfielders: Valentin Bădoi (30 / 7); Roberto Bisconti Belgium (8 / 0); Emmanuel Godfroid Belgium (24 / 5); Nicolae Grigore (15 / 0); Robert Ilyes (23 / 5); Claudiu Mircea Ionescu (1 / 0); Marius Măldărășanu (14 / 2); Dorin Pandele (1 / 0); Ioan Sabău (16 / 1); Claudiu Saghin (1 / 0); Constantin Schumacher (10 / 1); Florin Costin Șoavă (28 / 1).
Forwards: Florin Bratu (27 / 11); Henry Makinwa Nigeria (11 / 2); Daniel Niculae (28 / 6); Robert Niță (19 / 5).
(league appearances and goals listed in brackets)

Manager: Mircea Rednic.

References
  1. 2002–03 Divizia A at RomanianSoccer
  2. 2002–03 Divizia A at RSSSF
  3. "De Petrolul s-a ales praful!" (in Romanian). ProSport. 26 May 2009. Retrieved 26 May 2009.
  4. "Top Scorers". romaniansoccer.ro (in Romanian). Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  5. "Romania National Champions". RomanianSoccer. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
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